Which Winegrape Varieties are Grown Where?

A Global Empirical Picture

Kym Anderson
with the assistance of Nanda R. Aryal

Wine Economics Research Centre

School of Economics
University of Adelaide
Adelaide, South Australia

University of Adelaide Press

Published in Adelaide by the University of Adelaide Press

Kym Anderson 2013

All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may
be reproduced by any process without written permission from the authors and publisher.

ISBN
ISBN

(paperback)
(ebook)

Table of contents
Page
List of charts

vi

List of tables

vii

Authors preface and acknowledgements

Statistical sources
Technical notes

A guide to where in the world various winegrape varieties are grown

Charts: Worlds winegrape varieties and wine regions at a glance

Table sections:
I.

Country coverage

II.

Regional coverage of each country

III.

Winegrape varietal coverage globally

IV.

Winegrape areas for worlds top varieties, by country

V.

Winegrape areas and Varietal Intensity Indexes for national top 45 varieties

VI.

Regional Varietal Intensity Indexes for worlds top varieties

VII.

Index of Varietal Similarity, by region and country

VIII. Summary charts for each of the worlds top 50 varieties

IX.

Summary charts for each of the 44 countries

About Adelaides Wine Economics Research Centre (inside back cover)

xiii
xv
xix

List of charts
Page
1. National shares of global winegrape area, 2000 and 2010
2. National shares of global winegrape area, wine production volume and wine
production value, 2010
3. Cumulative national shares of global winegrape area and of wine production
volume, 2010
4. Cumulative national shares of global wine production volume, 1909-13,
1961-64 and 2009-11
5. Largest increases and decreases in national winegrape bearing area, 2000 to
2010
6. Share of total agricultural crop area under winegrapes, 2009-11
7. Cumulative varietal shares of global winegrape area, 1990, 2000 and 2010
8. Cumulative shares of Old World and New World winegrape areas by variety,
2000 and 2010
9. Worlds fastest-expanding winegrape varieties, 2000 to 2010
10. Worlds fastest-contracting winegrape varieties, 2000 to 2010
11. Worlds top 35 varieties in 1990 (c.f. 2000 and 2010)
12. Worlds top 35 varieties in 2010 (c.f. 1990 and 2000)
13. Top 30 red varieties shares of global wine area, 2000 and 2010
14. Top 30 white varieties shares of global wine area, 2000 and 2010
15. Red and white shares of global winegrape area, 2000 and 2010
16. Share of red varieties in national winegrape area, 2000 and 2010
17. Percentage point changes in shares of red and white varieties in national
winegrape area, 2000 to 2010
18. Change in national hectares of red varieties, 2000 to 2010
19. Cumulative varietal shares of world red and white winegrape area, 2000 and
2010
20. Shares of French varieties in national winegrape areas, 2000 and 2010
21. Shares of Spanish varieties in national winegrape areas, 2000 and 2010
22. Shares of Italian varieties in national winegrape areas, 2000 and 2010
23. Shares of Syrah in national winegrape area, 2000 and 2010
24. National shares of global winegrape area of Syrah, 2000 and 2010
25. Cumulative national shares of world Syrah area, 2000 and 2010
26. Varietal Intensity Index for Syrah, 2000 and 2010
27. Varietal Intensity Index for Australias 15 largest varieties, 2000 and 2010
28. Index of Varietal Similarity of each country with the world, 2000 and 2010
29. Index of Varietal Similarity between 2000 and 2010 for each country
30. Index of Varietal Similarity of each country with the country with closest
varietal mix, 2010

List of tables

I.

Country coverage

1. Number of regions and prime varieties, by country, 2000 and 2010

2. National shares of global winegrape area and global wine production volume,
2000 and 2010
3. Key indicators of national grape area and production, 1990, 2000 and 2010
4. National winegrape areas and change between 2000 and 2010
5. Global winegrape area, share of global area, and global ranks of each prime
variety (alphabetic), 1990, 2000 and 2010
6. Ranking of prime varieties by global winegrape area and decadal changes,
1990, 2000 and 2010
7. Red winegrape area and share of all varieties, by country, 2000 and 2010
8. White winegrape area and share of all varieties, by country, 2000 and 2010

II.

Regional coverage of each country

9. Winegrape area by region for each country, 2000

10. Winegrape area by region for each country, 2010
11. Winegrape area by region for the United States, 1990, 2000 and 2010
12. Large regions or regions within each state in Australia and Italy, 2010

III.

Winegrape varietal coverage globally

13. Prime varieties colour, country of origin, synonyms, and 2010 global area,
share and rank
14. Prime varieties global area and share of each synonym, and synonyms
share of each prime variety, 2000
15. Prime varieties global area and share of each synonym, and synonyms
share of each prime variety, 2010
16. Synonyms global area and share of each prime variety, 2000
17. Synonyms global area and share of each prime variety, 2010
18. Shares of number of prime varieties, and of global winegrape area, by
country of origin, 2000 and 2010
19. Prime varieties global area and share of all varieties globally, by primes
country of origin, 2000
20. Prime varieties global area and share of all varieties globally, by primes
country of origin, 2010
21. Shares of national winegrape area by varietal country of origin, 2000
22. Shares of national winegrape area by varietal country of origin, 2010
23. National shares of top, top 3, top 5, top 10 and top 20 varieties, by winegrape
area, 2000
24. National shares of top, top 3, top 5, top 10 and top 20 varieties, by winegrape
area, 2010

Page

25. Source of prime varietal name and its main synonym, and their shares of
prime variety's global area, 2000
26. Source of prime varietal name and its main synonym, and their shares of
prime variety's global area, 2010

IV.

Winegrape areas for worlds top varieties, by country

27. National winegrape area (hectares) for worlds top 30 red varieties, 2000
28. National shares (%) of global winegrape area for worlds top 30 red varieties,
2000
29. Shares (%) of worlds top 30 red varieties in national winegrape area, by
country, 2000
30. National winegrape area (hectares) for worlds top 30 red varieties, 2010
31. National shares (%) of global winegrape area for worlds top 30 red varieties,
2010
32. Shares (%) of worlds top 30 red varieties in national winegrape area, by
country, 2010
33. National winegrape area (hectares) for worlds top 30 white varieties, 2000
34. National shares (%) of global winegrape area for worlds top 30 white
varieties, 2000
35. Shares (%) of worlds top 30 white varieties in national winegrape area, by
country, 2000
36. National winegrape area (hectares) for worlds top 30 white varieties, 2010
37. National shares (%) of global winegrape area for worlds top 30 white
varieties, 2010
38. Shares (%) of worlds top 30 white varieties in national winegrape area, by
country, 2010
39. National winegrape area (hectares) for worlds top 6 non-red/white varieties,
2000
40. National shares (%) of global winegrape area for worlds top 6 nonred/white varieties, 2000
41. National winegrape area (hectares) for worlds top 6 non-red/white varieties,
2010
42. National shares (%) of global winegrape area for worlds top 6 nonred/white varieties, 2010

V.

Winegrape areas and Varietal Intensity Indexes for national top

45 varieties

43. Winegrape areas and national and global shares (and Varietal Intensity
Indexes) for national top 45 varieties, 2000
44. Winegrape areas and national and global shares (and Varietal Intensity
Indexes) for national top 45 varieties, 2010
45. Varietal Intensity Indexes (and winegrape areas and national and global
shares) for national top 45 varieties, 2000
46. Varietal Intensity Indexes (and winegrape areas and national and global
shares) for national top 45 varieties, 2010

VI.

Regional Varietal Intensity Indexes for worlds top varieties

47. Varietal Intensity Indexes for the top 25 regions for the worlds top 30 red
varieties, 2000
48. Varietal Intensity Indexes for the top 25 regions for the worlds top 30 red
varieties, 2010
49. Varietal Intensity Indexes for the top 25 regions for the worlds top 30 white
varieties, 2000
50. Varietal Intensity Indexes for the top 25 regions for the worlds top 30 white
varieties, 2010
51. Varietal Intensity Indexes for the top 25 regions for the worlds top 6 nonred/white varieties, 2000
52. Varietal Intensity Indexes for the top 25 regions for the worlds top 6 nonred/white varieties, 2010
53. Winegrape areas and Varietal Intensity Indexes for each regions top 6
varieties, by region and country, 2010

VII.

Indexes of Varietal Similarity, by country and region

54. Index of Varietal Similarity of each country and region relative to the world,
2000
55. Index of Varietal Similarity of each country and region relative to the world,
2010
56. Index of Varietal Similarity of each region in 2010 relative to that region in
2000
57. Each countrys 10 most-similar winegrape countries in the world according
to the Varietal Similarity Index, 2000
58. Each countrys 10 most-similar winegrape countries in the world according
to the Varietal Similarity Index, 2010
59. Each regions 3 most-similar winegrape regions in the world according to the
Varietal Similarity Index, 2000
60. Each regions 3 most-similar winegrape regions in the world according to the
Varietal Similarity Index, 2010
VIII. Summary charts for each of the worlds top 50 varieties
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.

Airen
Alicante Henri Bouschet
Aligote
Barbera
Blaufrankisch
Bobal
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Catarratto Bianco
Cayetana Blanca

71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.

Cereza
Chardonnay
Chenin Blanc
Cinsaut
Colombard
Cot
Criolla Grande
Douce Noire
Doukkali
Feteasca Alba
Gamay Noir
Garganega
Garnacha Tinta
Grasevina
Gruner Veltliner
Isabella
Macabeo
Mazuelo
Merlot
Monastrell
Montepulciano
Muller Thurgau
Muscat Blanc A Petits Grains
Muscat of Alexandria
Nero D'Avola
Palomino Fino
Pinot Gris
Pinot Noir
Prosecco
Riesling
Rkatsiteli
Sangiovese
Sauvignon Blanc
Semillon
Syrah
Tempranillo
Trebbiano Romagnolo
Trebbiano Toscano
Tribidrag
Verdejo

IX.

Summary charts for each of the 44 countries

111. Algeria
112. Argentina
113. Armenia
114. Australia
115. Austria
116. Brazil
117. Bulgaria
118. Canada
119. Chile
120. China
121. Croatia
122. Cyprus
123. Czech Rep.
124. France
125. Georgia
126. Germany
127. Greece
128. Hungary
129. Italy
130. Japan
131. Kazakhstan
132. Luxembourg
133. Mexico
134. Moldova
135. Morocco
136. Myanmar
137. New Zealand
138. Peru
139. Portugal
140. Romania
141. Russia
142. Serbia
143. Slovakia
144. Slovenia
145. South Africa
146. Spain
147. Switzerland
148. Thailand
149. Tunisia
150. Turkey
151. Ukraine
152. United Kingdom
153. United States
154. Uruguay

Authors preface and acknowledgements

Over the past 15 years the University of Adelaide has provided numerous editions of a global
statistical compendium of annual time series data and various key indicators of national
markets for grape wines. The eighth version was published by the University of Adelaide
Press in 2011 as a book and e-book (www.adelaide.edu.au/press/titles/global-wine) and the
data are freely available at the Universitys Wine Economics Research Centre
(www.adelaide.edu.au/wine-econ/databases). However, very little of the data in that
compendium relate to the grapes that are the key ingredient in winemaking. Nor are data
included by wine region within each of the countries covered. One reason is space: that
compendium is already 500 pages long, so subdividing each countrys area and production
data into regions would have turned the volume into a brick. Also, the readily available
annual data for grapes do not distinguish winegrapes from grapes for fresh consumption or
drying. The more-detailed data sets that focus specifically on winegrape area data by region
and variety are far less frequently published in most countries.
Another reason for that compendium including little information on winegrapes is that
the relatively scant data on bearing area (and the even scanter data on winegrape production,
yield and price) refer to varieties that have different names in different countries and
sometimes in different regions within countries even though they may have the same DNA.
This challenge has recently been reduced greatly, however, thanks to new DNA research. In
particular, the new and already well-known Robinson/Harding/Vouillamoz 2012 book called
Wine Grapes provides a detailed guide to nearly 1400 commercially grown prime varieties
and it also identifies their various synonyms. The prime name is chosen by those authors
according to the name used in its country or region of origin. In addition, the Julius KhnInstitut for Grapevine Breeding at the Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants
in Geilweilerhof, Germany is maintaining/building a Vitis International Variety Catalogue
(www.vivc.de) that provides additional DNA-based varietal information.
With that now-far-greater capacity to avoid spuriously indicating diversity of
winegrape varieties across regions and countries, and with the European Union recently
publishing census data on bearing area by variety and region circa 2010 for most of its
winegrape-producing member countries, the time is right to bring together for the first time a
global compendium of data on bearing area by variety and region (and hence also by
country). This can be treated as a supplement to Wine Grapes and The World Atlas of Wine
(or similar atlases) for readers seeking an idea of the relative importance of the worlds wine
regions and varieties at least as reflected in winegrape bearing area data circa 2010 and 2000
(and, in more limited form, 1990).
Assembling those data has been a time-consuming task, but it would have taken much
longer (and in some cases been impossible) without the generous assistance of a large number
of people in numerous countries. First and foremost, grateful thanks go to Jancis Robinson
MW, Julia Harding MW and Jos Vouillamoz for promptly responding to endless emailed
questions and for sharing their vast knowledge by reacting to drafts of numerous tables and
charts, as well as for providing data for such countries as China, Japan, Russia and Ukraine.

We are also grateful to Patrick Fegan of the Chicago Wine School, whose 2003 book
The Vineyard Handbook: Appellations, Maps and Statistics helped with its 1990 varietal data
(see Table 3) and also circa 2000 data for several small wine-producing countries, for which
we otherwise would have had only circa 2010 information.
At the risk of accidentally omitting some names (for which we humbly apologize in
advance), our sincere thanks for providing or leading us to the following national data go to,
in author alphabetical order, Julian Alston, Kate Fuller and Sandro Steinbach (California and
Washington States, USA), Georgi Apkhazava (Georgia), Peter Bailey, Sheralee Davies, Alan
Nankivell and Mark Rowley (Australia), Stefan Bojnec (Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia), Bruce
Bordelon (Indianan, USA), Jasna ai (Croatia), Mark Chien (Pennsylvania, USA), Donald
Cyr (Canada), Dominique Desbois (for carefully assembling French survey data for 2009,
pending the publication of the official census data which have yet to be released), Christy
Eckstein (Ohio, USA), Denis Gastin (Thailand), Anatassios Haniotis and Kargarita
Koumanioti (for advance access to the 2009 Greek census data), Giulia Meloni (EUROSTAT
data plus Brazil, Italy, Peru), Javier Merino and Jimena Estrella (Argentina), Taner tolu
(Turkey), Sergey Oleichenko, Dauren Oshakbaev and Alfinura Sharafeyeva (Kazakhstan),
Bruce Reisch (New York State, USA), Jorge Tenotio (Mexico), Gabriel Tinguely
(Switzerland), ron Trk (for advance access to the 2010 Hungarian census data), Angeliki
Tsiolo of the OIV (for contacts in various countries), and last but definitely not least, the trio
of Annalisa Zezza, Roberta Sardone and Eugenio Pomarici (for advance access to and heroic
efforts to polish the 2010 Italian census data).
We acknowledge and thank Australias Grape and Wine Research and Development
Corporation for assisting with funding the research project that produced this data collection.
We are grateful also to Lachlan Deer and Claire Hollweg for earlier research assistance with
circa 2000 winegrape varietal data compilation for a dozen key countries that provided a
prototype for the present much more comprehensive study (see Anderson, K., Varietal
Intensities and Similarities of the Worlds Wine Regions, Journal of Wine Economics 5(2):
270-309, Winter 2010).
While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of information
within this compendium, we cannot accept responsibility for information which may later
prove to be misrepresented or inaccurate, or for any reliance placed on the information by
readers. We warmly welcome comments on the raw data and the indicators derived from
them, and we would gratefully receive any new databases for omitted countries or updated,
expanded or revised databases for those countries already included.

Statistical sources
The most important source of winegrape bearing area data for this compendium is
EUROSTAT, because it provides data by region for the European Unions member countries
for the two most-recent decadal censuses, which were circa 2000 and 2010. They can be
found at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database [In the
Data Navigation Tree, click on Agriculture, forestry and fisheries then Agriculture then
Structure of orchards and vineyards then Vineyard and then Basic vineyard survey.]
Since that source provides data for a large share of the worlds winegrape production, those
years are the ones targeted for all other countries. For the majority of the EU countries the
census dates were a year earlier, so 1999 and 2009 were the vintages targeted for other
Northern Hemisphere countries while 2000 and 2010 were targeted for Southern Hemisphere
countries (bearing in mind that harvesting is late in the calendar year in the north and early in
the calendar year in the south).
Not all EU-27 countries have their latest census data uploaded on that EUROSTAT
website yet, so we approached government officials in the missing member countries (France,
Greece, Hungary, Italy) to secure advance copies of the circa 2010 data that have yet to be
uploaded even in those countries. In the case of France, its less-detailed 2009 annual survey
rather than the decadal census data had to be used for the latest numbers, but at least Frances
detailed census data are available at EUROSTAT for 1999.
The national and regional data sources, and the exact years to which they relate, are
listed in Table A of this section.
The choice of countries to include was determined by national shares of global wine
production. The 44 countries for which data are available for circa 2010 account for 99% of
global grapewine output in 2010. The only other country producing more than 0.1% of the
worlds wine is Macedonia (0.3%), for which we were unable to locate data. Of those 44
countries, we were unable to secure reliable data for 2000 for 9 of them (China, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Mexico, Myanmar, Peru, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine). The combined share
of global wine production of those 9 countries in 2000 was only 1.6% (compared with 5.1%
in 2010), but to retain their unusual varietal contributions we included them as a group (called
Missing 9 in 2000) by assuming each of them had (i) the same varietal distribution then as
in 2010 and (ii) a national acreage that was the same fraction of its 2010 acreage as was its
national wine production volume.
In addition to national data, bearing area data by variety are available for regions
within 29 of our 44 countries in 2010, and for 14 of those countries in 2000. In aggregate
there are 521 unique regions represented in 2010 and 414 in 2000.
As for winegrape varieties, our key source for identifying DNA-identical varieties is
the Robinson/Harding/Vouillamoz 2012 book called Wine Grapes (hereafter RHV). It
provides a detailed guide to 1368 commercially grown prime varieties, and it also identifies
their various synonyms used in various countries. Those authors chose the prime name
according to the name used in its country or region of origin. In addition, the
Vitis International Variety Catalogue (www.vivc.de) provides additional DNA-based varietal
information. The RHV books prime varieties account for 93% of the global winegrape area

in 2010 and 86% in 2000, VIVC accounts for 2%, and the rest were listed in neither of those
sources. We also adopt RHVs berry colours, although we simplify their five categories to
just three: the darkest two we call red, the lightest two we call white, and the middle grey
colour we call non-red/white (which accounts for just 2.1% of the global area in 2010, of
which almost half is Pinot Gris/Grigio, and 1.3% in 2000).1
There are two exceptions to our use of RHV prime names. One concerns Pinot, which
is thought to have existed for two millennia and which therefore has many clones. Until
recently the most popular clones which include all three of our colour categories were
thought to be distinct varieties, and have been marketed separately to different niches in the
market. For that reason we retain separately the following five, each of which has several
synonyms identified by RHV: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, and Pinot
Noir Prcoce. The other exception is Garnacha, which also has both red and white mutations.
In that case we retain separately the following four, each of which has several synonyms
identified by RHV: Garnacha Blanca, Garnacha Peluda, Garnacha Roja, and Garnacha Tinta.
Apart from the bearing area data, various other variables are included in some of the
tables. Their sources are as follows:
Tables 2 and 3: FAOSTAT data for total grapevine area, total grape production, grape yield
per hectare, and agricultural land (arable land and land used for permanent crops)
(http://faostat.fao.org).
Table 4: Varietal bearing area data for 1990 are from Fegan, P.W. (2003), The Vineyard
Handbook: Appellations, Maps and Statistics, revised edition, Springfield IL: Phillips
Brothers. We estimate the global winegrape bearing area in 1990 based on total and
winegrape production data and taking into account that the global winegrape yield per
hectare averages 15% less than the total grape yield, based on data in Anderson, K.
and D. Norman, Global Wine Production, Consumption and Trade, 1961 to 2001: A
Statistical Compendium, Adelaide: Centre for International Economic Studies, 2003.
In some tables we also provide aggregate data for the Old World and the New World
sets of countries. For that purpose we define the Old World as all of continental Europe (not
including the United Kingdom but including Cyprus, Lebanon, Turkey and all the countries
that were part of the former Yugoslavia or Soviet Union). All other countries are considered
here as the New World (including therefore, if somewhat unusually, the Asian winegrapegrowing countries for which we have data, which are China, Japan, Myanmar and Thailand).

Numerous countries have an other varieties category for each region, only some of which sub-divide that
category according to berry colour. When no sub-division is provided, we assume the proportions of other
varieties that are red and white are the same as the proportions in the named varieties for that region.

Table A: Sources of national winegrape bearing area dataa

Country

Actual years

Data sources (latest, then earlier date)

Algeria
Argentina

2001
2000, 2011

Fegan (2003); and assumed unchanged for 2010

www.areadelvino.com; provides more-detailed data in 2011 than 2010

Armenia

2001

Fegan (2003); and assumed unchanged for 2010

Australia

2001, 2010

http://www.wineaustralia.com; more-detailed series begins in 2001

Austria

1999, 2009

EUROSTAT

Brazil
Bulgaria

2000, 2010
2001, 2009

http://vitibrasil.cnpuv.embrapa.br/index.php?opcao=opt_03, and Fegan (2003)

EUROSTAT, and Fegan (2003)

Canada

2001, 2009

Chile

2000, 2009

www.grapegrowersofontario.com/sites/default/files/2012%20annual%20report.pdf,
and Fegan (2003); British Columbia data are 2011 not 2009, from www.winebc.com
www.odepa.gob.cl/odepaweb/servicios-informacion/publica/catastro-vides-2009.pdf

China

2009

China Agricultural Yearbook 2010, via Julia Harding, personal communication

Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Rep
France

2001, 2011
2000, 2009
2001,2009
1999, 2009

Croatian Ministry of Agriculture, and Fegan (2003)

EUROSTAT, and Fegan (2003)
EUROSTAT, and Fegan (2003)
Personal communication with Dominique Desbois, and EUROSTAT

Georgia

2004

Georgian Wine Association; assumed unchanged for 2000 and small growth by 2009

Germany

1999, 2009

EUROSTAT

Greece

1999, 2009

Hellenic Statistical Authority, and EUROSTAT

Hungary

2000, 2010

Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture, and Fegan (2003)

Italy

2000, 2010

Italian Ministry of Agriculture, and EUROSTAT

Japan

2009

Julia Harding, personal communication

Kazakhstan

2007

Dauren Oshakbaev, personal communication; assumed unchanged for 2010

Luxembourg

1999, 2009

EUROSTAT

Mexico

2011

Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, www.siap.gob.mx

Moldova

2009

Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture, via Julia Harding, personal communication

Morocco

1999

http://agriculture.ovh.org; and assumed almost unchanged for 2010

Myanmar

2012

http://redmountain-estate.com/varieties.html

New Zealand

2000, 2009

Peru

2008

http://wineinf.nzwine.com/statistics_outputs.asp?id=89&cid=6&type=n;
survey not conducted in 2010
www.minag.gob.pe/portal/download/pdf/herramientas/boletines/DocumentoFinalVid.pdf

Portugal

1999, 2009

EUROSTAT

Romania
Russia

2001, 2009
2000, 2009

EUROSTAT, and Fegan (2003)

Julia Harding, personal communication, and Fegan (2003)

Serbia

2001

Fegan (2003) ); and assumed unchanged for 2010

Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa

2000, 2009
2000, 2009
2002, 2011

EUROSTAT, and Fegan (2003)

EUROSTAT, and Fegan (2003)
http://www.wosa.co.za/sa/stats_sawis_annual.php

Spain

1999, 2009

EUROSTAT

Switzerland

1999, 2009

http://www.blw.admin.ch/themen/00013/00084/00344/index.html?lang=de

Thailand

2010

Thailand Grape Vine Survey, from Denis Gastin, personal communication

Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
UK
United Statesb
Uruguay

2000
2010
2009
1999, 2009
1999, 2009
2000, 2012

Fegan (2003); and assumed unchanged for 2010

Taner tolu of Wines of Turkey, personal communication
Ukranian Ministry of Agriculture via Julia Harding, personal communication
EUROSTAT
www.nass.usda.gov
http://www.inavi.com.uy/categoria/38-estada-sticas-de-via-edos.html, and
Robinson, J. The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd edition, 2006, p. 723

Table A (continued): Sources of national winegrape bearing area dataa

a

EUROSTAT data are available at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database.

In addition, some data for 1990 are provided from Fegan, P.W. (2003), The Vineyard Handbook: Appellations,
Maps and Statistics, revised edition, Springfield IL: Phillips Brothers, for the Chicago Wine School.
b
Dates for the various US states vary according to availability, shown below, with additional sources as follows:
www.oda.state.or.us/oass/oass.html
http://gwi.missouri.edu/publications/mo-winery-impact.pdf
www.virginiawine.org/system/datas/320/original/2010_Commercial_Grape_Report.pdf?1312838511
www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Illinois/Publications/Special_Surveys/12Grape_Wine_Final_Publication.pdf
Arizona-2008, Arkansas-2009, California-1991, 1999 and 2009, Colorado-2009, Georgia-2009, Illinois-2011,
Indiana-2011, Iowa-2006, Kentucky-2010, Michigan-2002 and 2011, Minnesota-2007, Missouri-2010,
New York-1990, 2001 and 2011, North-Carolina-2009, Ohio-2008, Oregon-1990, 2000 and 2010, Pennsylvania-2008,
Texas-2010, Virginia-2008, Washington-1990, 1999 and 2011

Technical notes
This section provides definitions of the units used in, and the various indicators generated
from, the raw data in this compendium.

Definitions of unit measures

Variable
Grape vine bearing area
Volume of grape production
Grape yield
Volume of wine production
Volume of wine consumption
Volume of wine exports and imports
Value of wine exports and imports
Unit value of wine exports and imports

Unit (per year)

000ha
kt
t/ha
ML
ML
ML
current $USm
current $US/L

Explanations of unit measures

Abbreviation

Definition

Conversion

ha
t
kt
L
ML

hectare
tonne
kilotonne
litre
megalitre

10,000 square metres or 2.471 acres

1,000 kilograms or 2,205 pounds
1,000 tonnes
1,000 millilitres or 0.2642 US gallons
1 million litres

Definition of Varietal Intensity Index

A Varietal Intensity Index is defined as a varietys share of a regions winegrape area divided
by that varietys share of the global winegrape bearing area. The Varietal Intensity Index is
thus a complement to share information in that it indicates the importance of a variety in a
region not relative to other varieties in that region but rather relative to that variety in the
world.
Specifically, define fim as the proportion of bearing area of grape variety m in the total
winegrape bearing area in region or country i such that the proportions fall between zero and
one and sum to one (i.e., there is a total of M different grape varieties across the world, and 0
fim 1 and m fim = 1). For the world as a whole, fm is the bearing area of grape variety m as
a proportion of the total global winegrape area, and 0 fm 1 and m fm = 1. Then the Varietal
Intensity Index, Vim for variety m in region i, is:
(1)

Vim = fim/ fm

Definition of Index of Varietal Similarity

An Index of Varietal Similarity has been defined by Anderson (2010) to measure the extent
to which the varietal mix of one region or country matches that of another region or country
or the world. It can also be used to compare the varietal mix of a region or country over time.
In defining the index, Anderson (2010) borrows and adapts an approach introduced by Jaffe
(1986) and Griliches (1979). That approach has been used subsequently by Jaffe (1989), and
by others including Alston, Norton and Pardey (1998) and Alston et al. (2010, Ch. 4), to
measure inter-firm or inter-industry or inter-regional technology spillover potential.2
The mix of grape varieties is a form of revealed preference or judgement by vignerons
about what is best to grow in their region. That judgement is affected by not only terroir but
also past and present economic considerations, including current expectations about future
price trends plus the sunk cost that would be involved in grafting new varieties onto existing
rootstocks or grubbing out and replacing existing varieties.
The vector of grape varietal shares defined above, fi = (fi1, . . , fiM), locates region i in
M-dimensional space. Noting that proximity is defined by the direction in which the f-vectors
are pointing, but not necessarily their length, Jaffe (1989) proposes a measure called the
angular separation of the vectors which is equal to the cosine of the angle between them. If
there were just two varieties, m and n, and region i had 80 percent of its total vine area
planted to variety m whereas only 40 percent of region j was planted to variety m, then their
index of regional similarity is the cosine of the arrowed angle between the two vectors. When
there are M varieties, this measure is defined as:
M

(2)

ij

f im f jm

m 1
1/ 2

M 2
f im
m 1

1/ 2

M 2
f jm
m 1

where again fim is the area of plantings of grape variety m as a proportion of the total grape
plantings in region i such that these proportions fall between zero and one and sum to one
(i.e., there is a total of M different grape varieties across the world, and 0 fim 1 and m fim =
1). This makes it possible to indicate the degree of varietal mix similarity of any pair of
regions. The index also can be generated for each region relative to the average of the worlds
N regions, call it . In short, ij measures the degree of overlap of fi and fj. The numerator of
equation (2) will be large when is and js varietal mixes are very similar. The denominator
normalizes the measure to be unity when fi and fj are identical. Hence, ij will be zero for
pairs of regions with no overlap in their grape varietal mix, and one for pairs of regions with
2

Alston, J.M., Andersen, M.A., James, J.S. and Pardey, P.G. (2010), Persistence Pays: U.S. Agricultural
Productivity Growth and the Benefits from Public R&D Spending, New York: Springer.
Alston, J.M., Norton, G.W. and Pardey, P. (1998), Science under Scarcity: Principles and Practice for
Agricultural Research Evaluation and Priority Setting, London: CAB International.
Anderson, K. (2010), Varietal intensities and similarities of the worlds wine regions, Journal of Wine
Economics 5(2): 270-309, Winter.
Griliches, Z. (1979), Issues in assessing the contribution of R&D to productivity growth, Bell Journal of
Economics 10: 92-116.
Jaffe, A.B. (1986), Technological opportunity and spillovers of R&D: evidence from firms patents profits and
market value, American Economic Review 76(5): 984-1001,
Jaffe, A.B. (1989), Real effects of academic research, American Economic Review 79(5): 957-70.

an identical varietal mix. For cases in between those two extremes, 0 < ij <1. It is
conceptually similar to a correlation coefficient. Like a correlation coefficient, it is
completely symmetric in that ij = ji and ii = 1. Thus the results can be summarized in a
symmetric matrix with values of 1 on the diagonal, plus a vector that reports the index for
each region relative to the global varietal mix.

A guide to where in the world

various winegrape varieties are grown
The dramatic globalization of the worlds wine markets over the past two or three decades
(see Anderson 2004) has generated countless new wine consumers. This has added to both
the opportunities and competitive challenges for producers seeking to differentiate their
product to attract the attention of consumers. Consumers in turn are always looking for new
types of wines, and more so as wines within at least the lower-priced product ranges become
more homogeneous with multinationalization of both wineries and wine retailers.
One strategy for producers has been to display grape varietal names on wine bottle
labels. Its success, especially for lower-priced New World wines, has led to demands in the
European Union for freeing up labelling laws so as to allow such labelling there also.
Meanwhile, producers in the New World are increasingly realizing the marketing value of
going beyond country of origin to regional (and even single-vineyard) labelling as another
form of product differentiation something that has long been practiced by Europes
traditional producers.
In addition to striving to differentiate their product, producers are also well aware of
the impact climate changes (higher temperatures, more extreme weather events) are having
on their winegrapes. Adaptation strategies include switching to warmer-climate or moreresilient grape varieties, and re-locating to a higher latitude or altitude to retain the current
mix of grape varieties. Especially in the New World, where regions are still trying to identify
their varietal comparative advantages and where regulations do not restrict varietal choice,
winegrowers are continually on the lookout for attractive alternative varieties that do well in
climates similar to what they expect theirs to become in the decades ahead. Moreover, the
biotechnology revolution is providing breeders with new opportunities, which is increasing
the interest in exploring traits of little-known varieties.
These marketing and climate adaptation needs are generating a rapidly growing
demand for information on which winegrape varieties are grown in the worlds various wine
regions. Since 1971 The World Atlas of Wine has provided a great deal of information about
where winegrapes are grown (the 7th Edition is by Johnson and Robinson 2013). That has
been complemented by the new book called Wine Grapes, by Robinson, Harding and
Vouillamoz (2012), which provides a detailed guide to 1368 commercially grown prime
varieties and to their various synonyms, based on the latest DNA research. (The authors
chose each prime name according to the name used in its country or region of origin.)
Neither of those seminal books, nor any other wine atlas or wine encyclopaedia, provides
comprehensive global data on the bearing areas of winegrapes by region and variety. This is
not surprising because, to our knowledge, no such global compendium of data has been
readily available before now.3
3

The handbook by Fegan (2003) provides information circa 2000 on key regions in the main wine-producing
countries, and on the key varieties in those countries, but it does not provide a matrix of variety by region data.
A preliminary matrix is provided for circa 2000 by Anderson (2010), but it covers just 166 regions and 258
varieties in a dozen countries and many of those 258 varieties are not unique, because that study did not rename the synonyms of primes.

Another reason for compiling a comprehensive global matrix of winegrape bearing

areas by variety and region is because concern has been expressed that the diversity of
winegrapes is narrowing to a few international varieties. Johnson and Robinson (2013, page
8) note that vignerons are at last beginning to respond by reverting to neglected local varieties
in the Old World and by exploring alternatives to the main international varieties in the
New World. But how severe is the current concentration compared with earlier times; and
how different is the concentration in the Old World compared with the New World?
Answering that question requires first re-naming synonyms by their prime, to avoid
understating the degree of concentration.4 That task is now possible, thanks to the book by
Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz (2012),5 which in turn has been made possible by the
DNA profiling of recent years that has added hugely to traditional ampelography
(identification based on physical characteristics of the vines appearance).6
With the above concerns in mind, this volume draws on a newly compiled global
database (Anderson and Aryal 2013) to estimate numerous indicators that capture changes
over the first decade of this century in the varietal mix of the worlds wine regions. It builds
directly on an earlier study that examined data for circa 2000 for just 12 countries (Anderson
2010). That paper defined two helpful indicators: a varietal intensity index, which captures
the degree of each regions specialization in certain varieties; and a varietal-based regional
similarity index, which captures the degree of similarity of each regions varietal mix with
that of any other region (or of the nation or world). Those and several other indicators are
used in the present study too.
Apart from adding an extra years data, the present volume significantly advances the
Anderson (2010) study in several ways: it has 32 additional countries so that the sample now
covers all but 1% of global wine production; it is far more detailed in terms of having 521
regions and 2019 varieties (of which 1271 are primes and 748 are their synonyms)
compared with only 166 regions and 258 varieties previously; and it has removed spurious
differences in varietal mixes resulting from different varietal names being used for what have
been shown since to be DNA-identical varieties.
The years chosen correspond to the agricultural census periods of the European
Union, which were 1999 or 2000 and 2009 or 2010. For the non-EU countries data have been
sought for the earlier year in the Northern Hemisphere and the latter year in the Southern
Hemisphere, so they refer to vintages that were less than 6 months apart. Inevitably not all
4

Some varieties are not as rare as previously believed. For example, Zinfandel is genetically identical not only
to Pimitivo (in Puglia) but also to Tribidrag (in Croatia). Also identical are the two varieties in Italys Liguria
region, near Genoa, of Pigato and Vermentino which are also genetically identical to Favorita (in Italys
Piedmont) and Rolle (in southern France). Their prime name, according to Robinson et al. is Vermentino.
5
The Vitis listing compiled by JKI (2013) for European countries provided a few more primes. There is also a
list of varieties maintained by the OIV (2012), but because OIV is an inter-governmental organization it uses
only the names adopted by each member country.
6
Scientific publications from that vine profiling began in South Australia in 1993 and in California at UC Davis
in 1997, and have surged ahead since then. When one parent is missing, it is still possible for DNA profiling to
identify parent-offspring relationships. And even when both parents are unknown, a probabilistic approach can
be used to detect siblings, grandparents or grandchildren. The latter has been done for Syrah, for example: its
parents were discovered barely a decade ago to be Mondeuse Blanche and Dureza, its great grandparent is very
likely Pinot (according to Vouillamoz and Grando 2006), and it is either a grandchild or a half-sibling of both
Mondeuse Noire and Viognier. Undoubtedly further DNA profiling will reduce this uncertainty and add to our
stock of knowledge of these and the other 10,000 or so grape varieties currently available globally.

countries or regions had data for exactly those vintages, but those exceptions account for a
very small fraction of the data.
The database on which this volume draws thus involves two years (2000 and 2010,
plus some 1990 data) by up to 521 regions (in 44 countries), by up to 1271 varieties. Such a
large three-dimensional database of 1.3 billion cells (many of which are zeros) is difficult to
digest as large spreadsheets, hence the present volume which summarizes the data in
numerous ways including though calculating various shares and indexes.
This Introduction provides a guide to the summary charts and tables, and is structured
as follow. The next section describes the coverage of the database in more detail. The
following two sections discuss the two key empirical indicators that are derived from the
share data: a varietal intensity index to highlight the varietal specialization of each region or
country; and a varietal similarity index to distinguish between regions and countries
according to their overall mix of varieties. Select findings from the reports many tables are
then provided, with the help of charts that provide visual images of key features of various
tables. The final section draws out some implications and discusses other prospective uses of
the database.

Coverage of countries and varieties

Data on bearing area of winegrapes are available by variety and region for most key wineproducing countries. In the case of the European Union countries, plantings are available
from one source (Eurostat 2013), while for other countries they are typically available online
from a national wine industry body or the national statistical agency. The United States and
Canada are key exceptions, where data are collected at the state/provincial level and only for
those with significant wine production. The raw data have been compiled, and varietal
synonyms have been changed to prime varietal names, by Anderson and Aryal (2013).
Table 1 lists the 44 countries included in the dataset and shows the number of regions
and prime varieties in each country in 2000 and 2010. The relative importance of those
countries in global winegrape area and global wine production is reported in Table 2 (which
also shows the other countries reported to be producing wine, although collectively they
account for just 1% of global wine output). A more-extensive set of key indicators of grape
production over the past two decades is provided in Table 3.
The data in Tables 2 and 3 are three-year averages based around the year shown, that
is, they refer to 1989-91, 1999-2001 and 2009-11, so as to reduce seasonal variation. Of the
44 countries included, reliable area data for 2000 were unavailable for nine of them (China,
Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Myanmar, Peru, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine). The combined
share of global wine production of those nine countries in 2000 was only 1.6% (compared
with 5.1% in 2010), but their varietal contributions are included as a group (called Missing 9
in 2000) by assuming each of them had (i) the same varietal distribution in 2000 as in 2010
and (ii) a national area that was the same fraction of its 2010 area then as was its national
wine production volume. As for 1990, the data refer only to countries (no regional detail) and
only to the worlds most important 50 or so varieties.
The vast differences between countries in their winegrape bearing areas are
depicted in Chart 1. The biggest three, Spain, France and Italy, account for 54% of the

worlds winegrape vineyard area in both 2000 and 2010. The next biggest is the United
States, but its share is less than 5%.
The same four countries dominate global wine production volume and value7
(accounting for 60% in aggregate). However, the 2010 rankings among them in wine
production differ considerably from that in winegrape area: France and Italy are ahead of
Spain in wine production volume, and France and the United States are well ahead of Italy
and Spain in terms of pre-tax value of wine production, followed by Germany and Australia
(Chart 2). One reason for these differing rankings is that the huge La Mancha region of Spain
has bush vines sparsely planted to the drought-resistant but low-quality Airn variety, much
of whose grapes are used to produce brandy rather than wine.
When expressed as cumulative shares by the 30 largest producing countries, it is
evident from Chart 3 that the differences between countries are greater in global wine
production volume than they are in winegrape area.
The globalization of the worlds wine markets has meant that the curve linking the
cumulative shares of global wine production by the 30 largest producing countries has been
falling substantially (Chart 4). That is, with the industrys globalization, the national
concentration of the worlds vineyards has been gradually diminishing over the past
century.
The global area of winegrapes has declined by almost 6% over the first decade of
this millennium (Table 4). This is despite increases of around 30% in the United States and
Georgia, 40% in the Czech Republic, and 220% in New Zealand. The biggest falls were in
Spain (13%), Portugal (20%) and several countries in southeastern Europe (Chart 5). That
overall decline continues an earlier trend: the global area fell 8% in the final decade of the
20th century (last row of Table 6).
These changes in bearing area are also reflected in changes in the winegrape intensity
of cropland usage. Chart 6 reveals a huge variance across countries in the shares of
national cropland under winegrapes. It ranges from 6-13% in the six countries where this
indicator is highest (Portugal, Chile, Italy, Georgia, Moldova and Spain) to less than 0.2% in
Australia, China and the United States.
Drilling down from total winegrape area to the area under different varieties, Table 5
lists alphabetically all the prime varieties in the dataset in 1990, 2000 and 2010, while Table
5 ranks all but the smallest of them according to their 2010 shares of global area. The data for
1990 are limited to little more than 50 varieties, but they cover three-quarters of that years
global winegrape area (last page of Table 6). The varieties with less than 100 ha globally are
included in Table 6 only if there are data for both 2000 and 2010, as the right-hand half of
Table 6 is devoted to reporting the decadal changes (in both hectares and as a percentage) in
individual varieties global bearing area.
The extent of varietal concentration in the worlds vineyard has increased nontrivially over the decade to 2010. This is a reversal of the trend of the previous decade
(Chart 7). Half the worlds plantings were accounted for by 21 varieties in 2000 but, by 2010,
that total had dropped to 15 varieties. This varietal concentration is more apparent in New
7

The value data are estimated for 2009 by Anderson and Nelgen (2011, Table 175).

World countries, where the top seven varieties accounted for over half of all plantings in
2010, whereas 16 varieties were needed in the Old World to get to the half-way point (Chart
8).
Those changes in varietal concentration in the worlds vineyard are reflected in the
marked changes in the global rankings of varieties over the period since 1990 (Tables 5
and 6). Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have more than doubled their shares to take them
from 8th and 7th to 1st and 2nd places, and Tempranillo and Chardonnay have more than
trebled their shares to take 4th and 5th places, while Syrah has jumped from 35th to 6th.
Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are the other two to move into the top ten. These have all
been at the expense of Airn which has fallen from 1st to 3rd, Garnacha from 2nd to 7th, and
Trebbiano from 5th to 9th. The fastest-growing and fastest-contracting varieties are depicted in
Charts 9 and 10.
These changes ensure that the chart of the worlds top 35 varieties as ranked in 1990
shows a quite different mix and rank ordering to the comparable chart for 2010 (Charts 11
and 12). The decline in varietal concentration in the worlds vineyard in the 1990s was due to
the large fall in the importance of the six most-common winegrape varieties in 1990
(especially low-quality Airn and Sultaniye) and the beginning of the rise in importance of
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Syrah as regions sought to improve the quality
of their winegrapes. Even in just the decade to 2010 there have been considerable changes in
the relative importance globally of the top 30 red and top 30 white varieties (Charts 13 and
14).
These changes have meant that the overall share of red varieties in the global
winegrape area has risen considerably: from 49% to 55% in the decade to 2010 (Chart
15). That share varies hugely across countries though, from 96% in China and even higher in
North Africa to just 12% in Georgia and 8% in Luxembourg (Chart 16 and Tables 7 and 8).
And it has changed far more in some countries than in others, whether looked at in terms of
reds share of the national total or in national hectares. Of the countries that have increased
the share of red varieties in their national mix, the majority are in the Old World (Chart 17).
In actual area, the largest rises in reds share are in Spain, the United States and Italy while
the largest falls are in Romania, Bulgaria and France (Chart 18).
Within the red and white winegrape categories, the cumulative share curves in Chart
19 indicate that the varietal concentration has increased almost equally for red and white
winegrapes over the 2000 to 2010 period.
The availability of area data by region within each country varies considerably across
countries, and is not identical in the two periods (Tables 9 and 10). The available data for
France has more regions in 2010 than in 2000 while the opposite is true of Italy, for example.
For the United States the greatest regional detail is of course for California, where 80-90% of
the winegrapes are grown, but there was also regional detail within New York State and
Oregon by 2000 and also for what is now the state with the second-largest winegrape area,
Washington, by 2010 (Table 11). Australia has an unusually large number of regions because
data began to be collected by Geographical Indication following the introduction of that GI
legal institutional arrangement in the 1990s (Table 12). In 2010, there are just 12 of our 44
countries for which no regional breakdown is available, and most of them are small wine
producers.

The colour, synonyms and country of origin of each of the alphabetically listed 1271
prime winegrape varieties are shown in Table 13, along with their 2010 global area, share,
and rank. The relative importance of each of the synonyms of each prime variety is indicated
in Tables 14 and 15 for 2000 and 2010, respectively. One of the more-extreme cases is Cot,
better known by the synonym Malbec which accounted for 74% of Cots global area in 2000
and 84% in 2010. To make for easy reference, Tables 16 and 17 show those same data but
with the synonyms listed alphabetically. Included in those tables are the names of those
primes that have synonyms. As the last page of those tables show, a little over one-quarter
of the global winegrape area is devoted to varieties that are known locally by their
synonyms rather than their prime; and just under one-quarter is planted to primes that have
no synonym.
Mention has been made earlier of the concern that the diversity of winegrapes has
been narrowing to a few international varieties. Certainly there are very few winegrape
varieties that are not from the Vitis vinifera species.8 They account for just under 1.5% of the
total global area in our database in 2010 (and 1.3% in 2000), of which more than half are in
Brazil and one-sixth are in each of Moldova and the United States.
One way to explore the diversity issue is to examine what share of the global area is
devoted to varieties by their country of origin. Between 2000 and 2010 the global
winegrape share devoted to French varieties rose from 26% to 36% (Table 18), which
contrasts with Frances own shares of the global bearing area and wine production which
were just 18% in 2000 and 21% in 2010 (Table 2). The next most important country of
origin is Spain, accounting for 26% of the worlds area in 2010, down from 28% in
2000, which is just a little above Spains own share of the global bearing area of 22-24%.
Third is Italy, whose country of origin share is almost the same as Italys share of global
area of 13% -- but in terms of number of varieties, Italys global winegrape share is
more than three times that of Spain. No other country can lay claim to being the origin of
more than 3% of the worlds winegrape varieties in terms of bearing area. However, in terms
of number of varieties Portugal appears to have a large share, but that is because it has
introduced a particularly detailed reporting system that by 2010 captured many of its varieties
that are planted to a small fraction of 1% of its total plantings. That is revealed in Tables 19
and 20, which list alphabetically the prime varieties from each country of origin and their
global area and share.9 Where those various varieties are planted is shown in the columns of
Tables 21 and 22 for each of our 44 countries, as well as for the Old World and the New
World aggregates. Particularly striking is the high and increasing dominance of
winegrapes of French origin in the New Worlds vineyards: that share averaged 67% in
2010, up from 53% in 2000. It compares with an increase from 20% to 27% for the Old
Worlds vineyards. The shares of French, Spanish and Italian winegrape varieties in various
countries vineyards are shown in Charts 20 to 22, respectively.

A total of just 22 varieties have been identified as not Vitis vinifera: Baco Blanc, Bailey, Bordo, Campbell
Early, Catawba, Concord, Couderc, Couderc Noir, Delaware, Fredonia, Herbemont, Isabella, Jacquez, Juliana,
Landot Noir, Niagara, Noah, Norton, Oberlin, Patricia, Seibel, and Venus.
9
Of the 1271 prime varieties identified for 2010, the most popular country of origin is Italy with 328, followed
by Portugal (196), France (120), and Spain (88). Then three other countries contribute between 55 and 70
varieties each (Hungary, the United States and Croatia). Most of the remaining varieties are from Southeastern
Europe and the countries surrounding the Black and Caspian seas (Table 19).

Another way to consider varietal concentration is to review the share of the top
variety or the cumulative shares of the top few varieties globally and in a countrys total area
of winegrapes. Globally, the top 35 varieties accounted for 59% of the worlds winegrape
bearing area in 2000 but by 2010 that share was 66%. At the national level, in 2010 as many
as 12 of our 44 countries have more than one-third of their total area under just their top
variety; but perhaps even more striking is that only 6 of the 44 countries have less than onethird of their total winegrape area under their top three varieties. Those numbers of
countries had changed from 7 and 7 in 2000, respectively, again indicating a rapid increase in
varietal concentration (Tables 23 and 24), as already noted globally in Charts 7 and 8.
Tables 25 and 26 record the source of the prime name and main synonym if any for
each variety (and thus also its country of origin). The Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz
(2012) volume is the source of close to 90% of named prime varieties in our database, with
just 2% from www.vivc.de. As for the rest (just 6% in 2010), they have not been identified in
either of those sources and so are assumed to have the name and origin of the country in
which they are recorded.
Given the heavy concentration in just a few varieties in each country, Tables 27 to 42
provide details for the worlds top 30 reds, top 30 whites, and top 6 other (greyish) coloured
winegrapes. They reveal which varieties are dominating the vineyards of each country. For
example, Table 29 shows that almost one-third of Frances area was devoted to what were the
three top reds globally in 2000, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha Tinta and Merlot.

Varietal Intensity Indexes and global varietal shares

The Varietal Intensity Index is defined by Anderson (2010) as a varietys share of a regions
total winegrape area divided by that varietys share of the global winegrape area. This index
is thus a complement to national share information in that it indicates the importance of a
variety in a region not relative to other varieties in that region but rather relative to that
variety in the world. It also complements information on a countrys share of the global area
for a variety: like that share, the VII can change for a region even if its area remains
unchanged when that varietys area in the rest of the world changes.
That complementarity is exposed in Tables 43 to 46. In Tables 43 and 44, for
example, the top 45 varieties for each country are shown in order of their national share in
2000 or 2010, and alongside that is shown the countrys global share of that variety and its
Varietal Intensity Index. For example, Frances total area and varietal mix altered relatively
little over the decade to 2010, yet its VIIs altered considerably. On the one hand, the VIIs for
its four biggest varieties of French origin (Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and
Chardonnay) each fell by 10% or more, in each case because bearing areas of those varieties
expanded considerably in the rest of the world. On the other hand, Frances VIIs for two of
its three biggest varieties of non-French origin (Garnacha Tinta and Trebbiano Toscana) rose
by about 10%, in those cases because their bearing areas fell much more in the rest of the
world than in France. Mazuelo was the big exception: its area in France fell 45% over that
decade, compared with a fall of 37% globally, so Frances VII for that variety VII fell (from
4.3 to 3.6).
By contrast, the global area of each of Spains seven biggest varieties apart from
Tempranillo contracted, and so even though the Spanish areas of each of those seven also

contracted, the contractions were smaller in Spain than globally and hence Spains VII rose
for almost all of them (the exception being Garnacha Tinta, whose VII fell slightly).
Another example of global interest relates to Argentina, where Cot (main synonym:
Malbec) was the countrys 3rd biggest variety in 2000 but its biggest in 2010 (15.4% of the
national winegrape area), when it accounted for 76% of the worlds Cot plantings. Since that
variety represented only 0.88% of the global area of all varieties in that year, Argentinas
Varietal Intensity Index for that variety was (0.154/0.088 =) 17.5 in 2010. But that was only
slightly larger than its VII of 16.2 in 2000, because over that decade the global area of Cot
rose by two-thirds. Note also that for Argentina, Cot is not even ranked in the top 25 varieties
in terms of VIIs in 2010 (Table 46), because there are numerous varieties that are unique to
Argentina and that therefore have the even higher VII of 23. (When a variety is grown only in
one country, its VII is necessarily the inverse of the proportion of the global winegrape area
accounted for by that country and so is identical for each unique variety in that country and
year.)
To illustrate the difference between the national share of a variety and its VII,
consider as a further example the national shares and the VIIs for Syrah (main synonym:
Shiraz). This is the most important variety in Australia, and its share of Australias total
winegrape area has risen from 22% to 28% in the decade to 2010. However, Charts 23 and 24
reveal that Syrah has become more important in numerous other countries as well since 2000.
Its share of the global vineyard area thus rose from 2.1% in 2000 to 4.0% in 2010. As a
result, Australias share of Syrahs global area has fallen from 29% to 23% (Chart 25) and so
Syrahs VII for Australia has fallen from 11 to 7 over that decade (Chart 26).
Even so, Australian regions continues to dominate the list of the top 25 regions in the
world in terms of regional VIIs for Syrah just as regions within the United States dominate
the list for Tribidrag (main synonym: Zinfandel), Spanish regions dominate the Airen list,
and Argentinean regions dominate the Cereza list (Tables 47 to 53).
The fall in the VII for Australia is not unique to Syrah. Indeed of all 15 varieties for
which there were more than 1000 hectares in Australia in 2010, there are only four whose VII
has risen since 2000 (Chart 27). Only a small fraction of that can be explained by Australias
share of the global area becoming larger, since its share has risen only marginally over that
decade (from 2.7% to 3.3%). The much more important reason for the VII falling for most of
the key varieties in Australia is that the countrys mix of varieties is becoming more similar
to the global average. The next section provides a way of quantifying the extent of varietal
mix similarity of regions and countries with the world (and also with each other).

Varietal Similarity Indexes

While the Varietal Intensity Index is helpful in indicating the extent of specialization of a
region or country in any particular variety vis--vis the rest of the world, it is also helpful to
have a measure of how similar or different a regions overall mix of varieties is to that of
other regions or the world. For that purpose an index of similarity of varietal mix between
regions or countries or over time has been developed. As defined and explained in the
Technical Notes at the front of this volume, this Varietal Similarity Index provides an
indication of how closely the shares of different varieties in the winegrape area in one
location match the shares in another location or in the world (or in that same location in

another time period). The closer (further away) that match, the closer the index is to one
(zero). That is, the index will be zero for pairs of regions with no overlap in their winegrape
varietal mix, and one for pairs of regions with an identical varietal mix. For the in-between
cases, the index is conceptually similar to a correlation coefficient. Like a correlation
coefficient, it is completely symmetric so the results can be summarized in a symmetric
matrix with values of 1 on the diagonal, plus a vector that reports the index for each region
relative to the global varietal mix.
Various questions can be addressed with the help of this Varietal Similarity Index
(VSI), given the heterogeneity across regions and even countries in their winegrape varietal
mixes. The most obvious is: how similar is each country to the global average mix of
varieties? The range of national-world VSIs is quite wide (Tables 54 and 55), with a handful
of countries above 0.55 and another handful below 0.15. Not surprisingly, the mix in France
is closest to the global mix, but there have been major changes since 2000: Frances is now
closer to the world average, reflecting the fact that many other countries have adopted more
French varieties over that decade. That global move toward French varieties has also
contributed to the sharp rise in the VSI for the United States and the small drop for Spain.
Australias VSI has risen in part because so many other countries have expanded their
plantings of Australias most-popular variety, namely Syrah.
The fact that the VSI with the world rose between 2000 and 2010 for each of the five
biggest New World countries and for two of the three biggest Old World countries (Chart 28)
is a further reflection of the recent increase in varietal concentration in the worlds vineyard
over that decade. Meanwhile, the VSIs for many of the former communist countries of the
Old World have fallen substantially since 2000 as those countries continue to restructure their
vineyards and move toward more-profitable (including local) varieties. Hungary, for example
had just under a quarter of its winegrape area under varieties of Hungarian origin in 2000, but
by 2010 that share was 37%. The countries with the lowest VSIs vis--vis the world include
those that are highly specialized in just white wines (e.g., Austria, Georgia, Luxembourg).
The VSI is also useful for indicating, for any one region or country, how close its
varietal mix in 2010 is to that in 2000. Chart 29 lays that out for each country for which there
are comparable data for the two periods. While some countries have an across-time VSI close
to one (Switzerland 0.99, France and Austria 0.97), others are much lower (United Kingdom
0.32, Russia 0.25) which reflects considerable changes in their varietal mix of bearing areas
over that decade.
The main use of the VSI is in examining the extent to which a region or country has a
varietal mix similar to that of other regions or countries. In both 2000 and 2010, the New
World countries have varietal mixes closest to other New World countries, whereas the
varietal mixes of Old World countries are closest to one of their neighbours (Table 57 and 58,
including last rows). The latter is especially the case among the countries of Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union. This shows up in Chart 30, which ranks countries according to
their VSI with the country that has the closest varietal mix to theirs: eleven of the first 14
countries are former communist countries of the Old World, and their closest-matched
country is also from that region as are several of their other nine closest-matched countries
shown in Table 58. So even though those countries tend to have varietal mixes very different
from the world average (they are biased toward the right-hand side of Chart 28), those mixes
are very similar to each other. By contrast, several West European countries have no other
country with a similar varietal mix, notably Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece. Such varietal

distinctiveness may or may not be a good thing economically, depending on how unique their
terroir is and how valued their varieties are by consumers.
There are of course considerable differences in varietal mixes between regions within
each country as well. For example, the VSIs across the regions within Australia, even vis-vis the world, range from 0.30 to 0.70 in 2010. That information may be helpful for producers
in that region thinking of altering their varietal mix or re-locating to a region with a higher
latitude or altitude so as to maintain their firms current varietal mix in the wake of global
warming. Tables 59 and 60 show that for some countries such as Italy, the regions with the
closest mix to theirs are neighbouring Italian regions, whereas the closest matches for many
French regions are in other countries.

Summary data for each key variety and country

To assist readers wishing to focus on a particular variety or country, Section VIII of the tables
provides, in alphabetical order, a one-page graphical summary of information about each of
the worlds top 50 varieties, while Section XI provides, again in alphabetical order, a onepage summary of information about each of the 44 countries in the database.

Final word
While this volume provides a great deal of information about which winegrapes have been
grown in various regions during the first decade of the 21st century, it leaves open the
question of why those varieties have been produced where they are. Is it driven mainly by
what grows best in each location (the terroir explanation)? Gergaud and Ginsgurgh (2008)
argue that even in Bordeaux that has not been the main explanation. Is the increasing
concentration on major French varieties because non-French producers particularly in
newly expanding wine-producing countries find it easier to market them because of
Frances strong reputation with those varieties? Might part of the explanation be that those
varieties do well in a wide range of growing environments, or have been found to be
desirable for blending with the traditional varieties of a region? These and other centripetal
forces during the first decade of this century apparently have dominated the possible
centrifugal forces mentioned at the start of this Introduction. It remains to be seen whether the
latter will be strong enough to dominate the former over the next decade or so. If China is the
country with the greatest expansion of winegrape area in the next few years, and if its new
plantings continue to concentrate on key French red varieties, the concentration of the
worlds varietal mix may continue to increase for some time yet.

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